Latifah Altamimi & Gathern, Saudi’s Leading Vacation Rental Startup

When Saudi Arabia opened its tourism sector in 2019, most platforms weren’t built for the shift. But Gathern had already been operating for three years. Behind it was Latifah Altamimi, a founder who understood the gaps in local hospitality, and built something people needed before the headlines caught up.

How a Weekend Frustration Sparked a Platform

Latifah Altamimi founded Gathern after noticing how fragmented and offline the process was for booking local chalets in Saudi Arabia, a popular weekend activity for families. The market was traditionally run through phone calls or in-person visits, despite growing demand.

In response, she launched a platform to digitize short-term property rentals, initially focused on chalets. Gathern quickly scaled to list over 1,000 properties in its first year.

Lessons That Traveled With Her

Before launching Gathern, Latifah co-founded the Blue & Pink Online Store, where she gained early exposure to digital commerce and customer-facing operations. She later served as Managing Director of Berlitz Corporation in Riyadh, overseeing language education services with a focus on quality delivery and team performance. These roles were less about tech and more about building reliable systems, skills that shaped how she approached platform-building later on.

Starting Local, Scaling Steadily

Gathern began by focusing specifically on chalet rentals, digitizing a market that was almost entirely offline. Once it proved traction in this category, the company expanded step by step into other accommodation types, evolving into a full peer-to-peer vacation rental platform. Rather than rapid expansion, Latifah and her team built trust among hosts and users, scaling city by city. This approach helped ensure consistent quality control and localized support.

As of 2025, Gathern lists properties across more than 180 cities and provinces in Saudi Arabia.

Academic Background

Latifah earned her bachelor’s degree from King Saud University and her master’s (with honors) from Wright State University. She also completed an HRM diploma from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

She pursued certifications in project management, financial accounting, strategic planning, and programming. Notably, she earned two Nanodegrees from Udacity in Introduction to Programming and Google Analytics (2019). These programs provided her with tools to manage Gathern’s growth with technical and analytical awareness.

Big Moments of Traction

In 2021, Gathern closed a $6M Series A. By 2025, it had raised $72M in Series B, led by Sanabil investments (a PIF subsidiary), with participation from STV, Pinnacle Capital, Nuwa Capital, and Endeavor Catalyst. The investment valued Gathern at over SAR 1 billion (approximately $266 million).

These rounds weren’t driven by vision decks. They were backed by usage data, high retention, and clear revenue growth. By the time most VCs started hunting for Saudi travel tech deals, Gathern was already the category leader.

Now a Category Leader

With over 72,000 active listings, Gathern serves 5 million users and controls more than 44% of Saudi Arabia’s short-term rental market. In Riyadh, it leads with over 50% share.

Latifah’s strategy was to build stability before expanding outward. Rather than rushing into international expansion, she focused on operational depth. That meant better tools for hosts, faster resolution times for users, and building tech that could handle the complexity of local property types, from farms to furnished apartments.

A Founder with Boardroom Credentials

Latifah serves as a member of the GCC Board Directors Institute and as a board member of Gathern. Her involvement in board governance reflects a commitment to structured growth and compliance

A Founder with Results-Driven Visibility

Latifah is now recognized as the founder of the most valuable female-led startup in the Middle East. Her visibility has come not from public campaigns but from data-backed performance.

Staying Grounded While Thinking Bigger

As Gathern moves toward IPO readiness and explores new verticals like long-term rentals and AI-driven features, Latifah remains focused on the fundamentals: user satisfaction, host empowerment, and sustainable hiring.

She sees the next phase not as reinvention, but as refinement, extending what already works, with greater reach.

“Gathern’s success reflects both the strength of Saudi entrepreneurship and the appetite for alternative hospitality experiences. This funding marks a new chapter as we scale to meet rising demand and build a globally competitive platform from Saudi Arabia.” — Latifah Altamimi, August 2025

Leading by Example in a Changing Saudi

Latifah’s journey mirrors the objectives of Vision 2030, specifically the transformation of the tourism sector through technology and female economic participation. By building Gathern from the ground up, she has contributed to both.

Her story offers a grounded, results-based model for founders operating in fast-changing economies: solve real problems, scale thoughtfully, and let your work speak for itself.

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